By Derek GeanAssistant editor
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February is National Heart Month and staff members at the Fort Leonard Wood Army Wellness Center want to boost awareness when it comes to heart health.

The center is hosting a Heart Healthy Event from 7 a.m. to noon Tuesday.

“Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States; one in every three deaths is from heart disease and stroke, equal to 2,200 deaths per day, said Kelly Scarbrough, heath promotion technician.

“Here at the AWC we want to educate you on how to promote a healthy lifestyle and teach you ways to improve your overall health and well-being,” she said.

High Intensity Interval Training – 11 a.m. This exercise session will include workouts for all skill levels.

The day is also designed to give community members the opportunity to tour the wellness center.

“Our mission at the AWC is to provide integrated and standardized primary prevention programs and services that promote enhanced and sustained healthy lifestyles to improve the overall well-being of Soldiers and Family members,” Scarbrough said.

With that mission in mind, she said the staff members want to highlight many of the misconceptions of cardiovascular disease. She said factors such as, age, gender, ethnicity and Family history are out of one’s control, but there are several modifiable factors one can control.

According to Scarbrough, an estimated 15.5 million people in the United States have coronary artery disease, and each year, 1.5 million patients suffer an acute myocardial infarction, and more than 600,000 die.

“With better understanding of the different signs and symptoms of heart disease, especially the ‘atypical’ symptoms experienced by women and the elderly, the diagnosis of heart disease can be improved. The prognosis for the patient is better when diagnosis and treatment are initiated early,” Scarbrough said.

Aside from just learning about heart health, organizers hope to highlight the value the Army Wellness Center provides eligible members of the Fort Leonard Wood Community.

“We do overall health and wellness education, body fat testing and metabolic testing that tells them what their caloric intake per day needs to be,” said Meleena Littlejohn, health educator.

“Our resources off post would cost clients $3,000 and we offer that for free.”

Class sizes are limited to the first 27 people to register. The program and AWC services are open to active-duty service members and their Family members, military retirees and their Family members, and Department of Defense civilians.

For more information on the program, the AWC or to register for a class, call 573.329.1900.